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Poland The End of the Soviet Era
In 1990 Poland's trade balance with the Soviet Union
was
almost 4.4 billion transferable rubles. At that point,
some
Polish exporters took the risk of continuing their exports
to
traditional Soviet markets, hoping that they would
eventually be
paid either by the importers in the Soviet Union, who were
very
anxious to get Polish goods, or by the Polish government.
In the
first quarter of 1991, the value of these exports was
about
US$130 million. Only about US$20 million was received,
however,
because the Soviet government was prepared to pay only for
imported foodstuffs, which received highest priority in
its
import policy. The Soviet government refused to pay the
bill for
Soviet importers who had purchased machines,
pharmaceuticals,
electronics, textiles, and clothing from Poland.
The sudden collapse of Comecon in 1990 increased
short-term
obstacles and accelerated changes in the geographic
direction of
trade. The share of Poland's trade occupied by the Comecon
group
declined to 22.3 percent in 1990 and 14.4 percent in 1991.
On the
export side, its share declined to 21.4 and 9.8 in the
respective
years.
Data as of October 1992
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